When the world seems to be crashing around you..... it's good to be in the company of friends. Not just the friends you hang with to have a good time, not just the "fair weather friends" but the true friends, the ones that can see the walls falling down, and choose to be the pillars that continue to hold them up. Sometimes, holding up a pillar doesn't look quite like we think it should... then again, sometimes we don't realize everything is crashing down.
I guess I'm just finding that the best friendships aren't always the ones that sit and listen and just tell you everything is going to be ok, or allow you to keep doing what you were doing. Sometimes the best friendships are the ones that force you to talk, the ones that tell you to "stop it" when you're being selfish. They tell you when you are running from your past, or carrying guilt from it. And while all of those things seem harsh or unkind... it deepens trust. And trust... well... being able to trust someone is a very important thing. Biblical even.
Proverbs 18:24 states: "One who has unreliable friends soon comes to ruin, but there is a friend that sticks closer than a brother."
Family loves at all times, family will be there for you, but sometimes friends stick around longer, support longer, speak harsher loving truth into your life, and while I'm sure this sounds cliche... Family loves because they're family... friends love out of a choice...
I'm so thankful for the loving, faithful Christian friends the Lord has placed in my life.
For my friends who've seen the walls crashing and held them up for me, I may not have known it at the time, I may have even seemed mad at you, but seeing it now, I understand... and I could never fully express my gratitude to you. Thank you.
